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Old 01-10-2008, 20:34 PM   #6 (permalink)
Tin Man
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Quote:
Originally Posted by bfng3569 View Post
any idea as to why these were retired?

would seem like a very effective and weapon?
Maybe they were not so effective? Dunno really. These weapons had a troubled inception, with numerous issues.

I don`t see any value is pursuing stealthy AAM`s for example. Firstly, if you hang them off a jet on the wing stations, they will negate the radar LO on that platform. Just because the weapons are stealthy doesn`t mean they won`t destroy the RCS of the launch aircraft. AMRAAMs launched silently would be just as difficult to detect as a stealthy missile, so no point in the additional expense.

I guess a stealth feature on most missiles just doesn`t help them significantly enough to fund them unless they fly low and slow. Now, electronic stealth, EMCON, etc, is a different animal.
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